The present invention relates to a surgical retractor. More particularly, the present invention relates to an articulated holder for a surgical blade.
Surgical retractors are used to retract flesh from an incision at a surgical site. Surgical retractors typically have a blade that is fixedly attached to a handle where the blade is inserted into surgical incision. Manual force is typically applied to the retractor handle to retract flesh to expose the surgical site. With the surgical site exposed, the retractor is retained in a retracting position by clamping the handle to a retractor support apparatus positioned about the surgical site with a clamp.
However, to reposition the surgical retractor laterally, transversely and, in some instances, vertically within the surgical site, the surgical clamp must first be positioned into a non-clamping position. With the clamp in the non-clamping position, the lateral, transverse and vertical position of the surgical retractor is repositioned into a new selected position.
The surgical retractor is then secured in the new selected position by positioning the clamp in the clamping position. However, having to position the surgical clamp into the non-clamping position to make even minor adjustments to the position of the surgical retractor may add unnecessary time to the surgical procedure and inconvenience to the surgical personnel.